Richard Miniter explains ‘Why the Democratic Party is doomed’

by CynthiaYockey on July 19, 2011

Thanks to Ace, I just finished reading dear Richard Miniter’s explanation at Forbes.com of “Why the Democratic Party is doomed,” and I recommend reading the whole thing, whether or not his headline fills you with hope or despair. It was transformational for me because it was the first time I saw the Democrats as a coalition of economic groups rather than social groups (or, to conservatives, identity grievance groups). It’s an extremely insightful and handy overview.

BTW, I’m not sure I would ever have seen the distinction between the economic and social groups among the Democrats if I hadn’t gotten used to Republicans making distinctions between fiscal and social conservatives.

Two points that dear Richard makes particularly amuse me. The first is the degree to which the Democrats’ war on free enterprise via the Cerberus of over-regulation, over-taxation and unsustainable union benefits is now biting them in the ass (boldfacing mine):

This crisis comes at a very bad time for Democrats. Their coalition is either dying off or going broke.

Unions. Private sector union membership has declined from 52% of the American workforce in the 1950s to 7% today. As large-scale manufacturing and the Fortune 500 shed jobs, the prospect for increasing unionization rates diminishes. There is no likely scenario in which private-sector unions grow by a significant amount; indeed they will likely continue their slow, steady march into the mists of history.

Who could have predicted that driving good manufacturing jobs out of America would be bad for the very unions that donated to the party that sent their jobs overseas? Besides conservatives, I mean.

The second point is pure ROFLMAO because, for some reason, hardcore, ahem, entrepreneurs really like free enterprise and won’t donate to the party that wants to kill it (boldfacing mine):

Porn Industry. Usually overlooked by analysts, this lucrative industry is a small but important source of campaign cash for Democrats. But the Internet is gutting it. XXX theatres, a fixture of the 1970s are long gone, and the DVD side of the business is dying too. As a 2009 Conde Nast Portfolio magazine article shows, YouPorn.com and other porn sites now offer hours of video content online for free, squeezing Larry Flint’s Hustler, Hugh Hefner’s Playboy and their many print rivals. The underground cultural force of these publications is shrinking with their revenues. While porn is here to stay, the Internet has empowered anyone to put up a website and collect revenue from ads or pay-per-view — underpricing the Goliaths that write campaign checks. As for Democrats, organizing tens of thousands of small-business porn stars will prove a difficult and low-margin proposition.

In contrast I think these entrepreneurs would fit right into the big tent of the Tea Party and conservativism. What do you think their booth at CPAC will look like?

In a planned economy, porn will always end by “spreading the wealth”, but nobody’s to get more of their “fair share” of sex.

Attmay

And of course the sex will be lousy, but everyone will be “entitled” to it.

Liz

“Alternatively, what do you think planned economy porn will look like?”

It will have to have a “diversity of body shapes”. This is actually something I’ve seen in the left wing feminist sites when they’re reviewing porn sites.

Heaven forfend that people who like X will go to Y.com, and people who like A will go to B.com. Nah, people need to be forcibly exposed to many different body types, because they only think they know their own preferences.

Planned economy porn will be extreme closeups that nobody really wants to see. It isn’t like anyone would want to see me and my sweetie doing it. Maybe thirty-five years ago but not now. Sorry about the TMI but you did ask.

Liz

I’m not entirely sure why, but I saw this and immediately thought of this post:

I used to despair of the “capitalism in good times, socialism in the bad” attitude of the corporate classes. Now I realise that it seems to come from American society as a whole, and I despair of society as a whole.